Virtual vs. Meatspace Klindom

[Kesvirit]

In a recent off-board chat qoSagh told me of the conflicts between various fan organizations over the years.  When I lamented my status of being a tlhInganmey, an online-only Klingon, he responded: "I think virtual Klingons are the future of the Empire."

What do you think of this prophesy?  Aside from the obvious of a broader reach across vast distances, how does online Klindom stand to overtake meatspace Klindom?

-=- Kesvirit

[qoSagh]

To elaborate on cyberKlingons being the wave of the future, this is largely because of the nature of the internet. It used to be Klingons had three choices. 1) sit alone at home and be a Klingon unto yourself. 2) join a local Klingon club if there was one, and interact solely with othe rlocal klin. 3) attend conventions, again depending on geography, and meet with various non-local klin. Now the Internet has allowed all three of these option to merge. I can sit at home, and converse simultaneously with local and non-local (often even international) klin.

This is much like the revolution that has come about in dating. It used to be you had to go somewhere and meet someone now you can sit at home and talk well before ever meeting. In a way this has been a major shift, because it places more emphasis on the cerebral and less on the physical. I see the same thing happening in klindom. Lets face it, within our little piece of fandom we have more than our share of physically large people. Yet here online, I have no way of knowing who is tall/short, thin/fat, white/black, sometimes even male/female. This forces everyone to be taken on the value of how they conduct themselves, where as before I was free to make whatever assumptions I wanted before ever speaking to a person.

There has also been a lul in conventions in my area. While there used to be a Creation show roughly every 3 months, they now do mabey one a year and instead of New York City, they do northern New Jersey and bill it as in the NYC area. Most fan run conventions are annual things, so if they are not scheduled far enough apart, one must choose which convention to attend. The internet is here waiting for me when I get home from work, have a day off, have any spare time, even a few minutes to devote to being Klingon, and I don't have to spen close to an hour in make up getting ready, I just have to log on.

It is far easier to be a cyber Klingon than to be a live action Klignon. I don't think live action will ever fully be replaced, but I think we will someday see far more Klingons who have never dressed the part, than those that have.